History. Mystery. Research-in-Progress.

The Earls of East Hall, Part I

This week, I’m putting together the section of the book about Emmett’s life as a law school student, at Stetson University.

Because I still don’t have a journal of Emmett’s, or, his scrapbooks (yet), I had to look at a lot of secondary sources to get an idea of what his life was like on campus in 1903.

I found out from the Stetson University archives that in 1903, Emmett’s junior year in law school, he lived in a cottage dormitory named “East Hall” or, “East House.”

So, I started mining the archive for information about that dormitory. And boy, did I find something interesting: An essay in the Stetson University archives, which was printed in the school newspaper (The Stetson Collegiate) in May, 1903, titled, “Life in East Hall.” It is full of all kinds of interesting anecdotes and pranks these guys played on each other. What’s more, it gives a lot of interesting information about Emmett and his friends. For instance:

The “Earls of East Hall”: Anthony, Carter, Fulgham, Pelot, Calmes, “Happy” Merryday, Wilson, DeCottes, “Berry” Sturgeon, Worley, and Fee. Emmett is noted as the authority on “Hamilton Hall,” which was a women’s dormitory. Source: Stetson University Archives

Life in East Hall must have been a lot of fun for Emmett and his friends.

But, who were these friends of his, and, what became of them? More importantly, did Emmett remain friends with them beyond Stetson?

Today, I introduce to you the “Earls of East Hall:”

Emile D. Anthony, in later years. Source: Ancestry.com

Emile D. Anthony. Anthony earned a diploma in Bookkeeping from the Business College in 1903.

I was curious as to how he was an expert on both ‘women and oratory;’ but further reading in the always-informative student newspaper, The Stetson Collegiate, indicates he had quite an active social life, in both areas. Here’s only two examples:

Anthony in search of oratory assistance. I have another article, also from the archive, that says Anthony got into fisticuffs with Benedict. Curious. Source: Stetson University Archives

And:

The lady in question was Miss Louisa M. Foote, resident of Chaudoin Hall, enrolled in the Academy. Source: Stetson University Archives

Anthony’s family was prosperous and important; they were from West Palm Beach, listed as merchants in several U.S. Census reports. The Anthony family is still in business today. Emmett doesn’t seem to have been in contact with Emile much after college days; Emile also lived out of Emmett’s congressional district, so he wouldn’t have been able to vote for him.

Paul Carter. You’ve met Paul in an earlier post. Paul was Emmett’s best friend from childhood; he was also one of the best student orators at Stetson during his tenure there.

Emmett and Paul drifted apart a bit. During the time when Emmett moved to Pensacola, and ran for Congress, Paul ran for mayor of Marianna (he held the office for four terms), settled down and got married to Mary Horne of Chipley. They remained friends, though, as Paul served as one of Emmett’s honorary pall bearers at his funeral.

Walter B. Fulghum. Walter was originally from Richmond, Indiana, and was a combination Latin-Science major. Walter’s name shows up several times across different issues of The Stetson Collegiate, (mostly mentioned in the “Locals” section, which was a gossip column that ran for several pages) as attending parties at the women’s dorms, and the like.

One of many campus parties attended by Fulghum. Source: Stetson University Archives

One interesting thing I discovered about Fulghum was that he was a Quaker in the White Water community of Indiana. I mention this because after following Emmett and his friends around for three years in research land, this was a group that liked booze-fueled parties. Maybe not every single party, but I’ve been able to establish that Emmett’s drinking career was established back when he was at West Florida Seminary in 1900. Quakers aren’t forbidden from consuming alcohol, but most abstain.

Fulghum eventually became a merchant, then a farmer. Later in life, he had a farm in Caldwell, Texas; he died there in 1951 from arteriosclerosis. Fulghum probably did not see Emmett after Stetson, given that he moved back to Indiana right after graduation.

Charles E. Pelot. Charles was originally from Manatee, Florida, and he was enrolled in Stetson’s Law School.

After graduating from Stetson, he practiced law in Jacksonville for most of his life. He was active in the alumni association:

Pelot as President of the Jacksonville Stetson Club, 1911. Source: Google Books

I don’t have much information on Pelot; he seems to have stayed in local and state politics, though, and based on this item I found in the May 7, 1916 edition of the Tampa Tribune, Emmett probably had been in contact with Pelot on and off during his career:

Pelot was up for a circuit court judgeship. Kirke Monroe and Cooper Griggs were friends of Emmett’s. Source: Genealogybank.com

I’ll continue with the rest of this study of Emmett’s roommates in a few days. Stay tuned!

I ask because an archivist in the Sterling, Illinois (where Emmett worked) historical socieety has a trunk that belonged to Emmett’s former law partner. I asked what was in the trunk (hoping it was old correspondence, or a journal), but he never replied back.